Good-bye 2005

Gleanings and ideas from posts and news stories this year:

1. Democracy is in crisis. Secrecy has replaced transparency, unilateralism has replaced public approval, and violence has replaced negotiation and UN direction. We need democratic renewal, which may require major changes to our institutions.

2. The end does *not* justify the means. The means simply determines the end. Whatever path you take, that's where you are going.

3. Religion and politics do not mix well, not even for religious people. What passes as religious government is usually a legalistic, non-spiritually-driven quest for personal power. The separation of religion and state is vital for democracy.

4. Meeting isn't always the most effective place for being Quaker. In fact, Meeting can be downright unpleasant at times. But at other times, the Voice gets through. So somehow Quakerism seems to work in spite of itself.

5. Those who follow the example of Christ sometimes have to pay for it with their lives. But this is how the Light gets passed on. We admire such courage and both hope and dread that we might have such courage some day.

6. Nature is not nice. Rather than a commodity that must be treasured, it is a force that must be obeyed. It gives and it takes. When we disobey nature, we have forgotten who we are--and we will be reminded.

7. Old texts, old traditions, and old events sit gathering dust in the attics of our minds and cultures. Yet when the new fails to provide answers, these can be useful for setting us on new paths.

8. Sometimes the God-in-the-sky seems so far away that we can't find it or know it, let alone follow it. But there is that within us that guides us. There is "that of God" in others that guides us as well.

9. To hear the Light is to receive a task. Often we fear these tasks.

10. We have much to learn from each other. By treating everyone like the messenger, we get the message.


Happy New Year.